University of Denver Top Questions

Rich and entitled is a common stereotype, and I'm not going to say it's proven to be untrue.

DU has a reputation for being a school for snobby white rich kids. I have attended the school for 2 years and I can honestly say that I don't see it. Sure, there are plenty of caucasian students who attend DU. Maybe people assume these students are rich because they attend DU? It is pretty expensive, but I don't know. But most people I have come in contact with at DU are nice kids, that are down to earth and are very friendly. Last year especially, I began to notice more ethnic groups represented here at DU. It seems that the school is trying to rid themselves of this "all rich white kids" stereotype.

The stereotype tends to be rich white kids, generally stuck up, who are paying for everything with daddy's credit card. The rich white kids thing sticks pretty well, because tuition at DU is pretty steep, and it's just a reflection of demographics in the USA as a whole. Some of them will be the stuck up kind who are paying with daddy's credit card and able to get away with a lot of different things. But definitely not all of them. There are plenty of people who are only there because they were able to get a scholarship to knock off some of the tuition price, or who are taking out a huge amount of loan money, or are even paying for it themselves. People I've met are super involved, whether it's in academics, sports, or another club. Students are very good at finding their passion and making it into a lifestyle.

I think that the stereotype of students at DU are that we are rich, snotty, very smart, have had very easy lives, and that we are very secretive. Sometimes I think that people think that we all love the outdoors and are ski bums. Although students at DU may be like this, I think that the population can de described as unique. There are quite a few people that love to hit the slopes, but there are plenty of others that just love to hang around the campus in the winter. Also, there are some rich students, but a large population of the campus is actually attending DU on scholarship or with financial aid.

So, I hate to be brutally honest, but there are quite a few stereotypes despite DU's attempt to be considered a diverse campus. From my standpoint, yes, DU often appears to have a mix of racially and ethnically diverse students - then again, I come from a small farmer's town in South Dakota where the entire population is white (333 citizens reside there), so I might just be experiencing culture-shock when I notice a colorful campus of human individuals. Ask anyone else and they'll say it breaks down like this: 1) Greek Life sets the scene - although DU is not known for having outstanding Greek Life chapters (which they aren't), a huge portion of the school is devoted to this lifestyle or social status one may say. Don't be surprised come freshmen year once all of your friends ask if you are going to "rush" or not, and definitely don't feel pressured into it. This stereotype isn't necessarily a good one on campus. 2) Rich, ungrateful kids go to DU - Due to the University of Denver's high tuition cost and prestige-looking campus, many students are stereotyped as being rich and snobby kids who live off their parents. Although this is definitely not always the case, there are a few kids out there who show off their privilege and complain about what we jokingly call "first-world problems." For example, you'll hear someone complain about DU's outrageously-high tuition, but then later see them driving around in a brand new BMW gifted to them by their well-off parents. Ironic. Anyways, don't let that stereotype get you down. Although one may think it would be hard to find true, non-materialistic friends here, you're bound to find someone eventually. I did.

DU is known as a school for wealthy students that are not Ivy League material and enjoy to ski. There are many students that fit this description, but there are also various sub cultures that exist. Students here are not the brightest but they aren't complete slackers either.

Some of the common stereotypes of the students at my school is that they are rich, white kids. However, this is NOT an accurate stereotype!!

Because DU is private, a lot of people assume that the students are rich and snobby. While there definitely are some wealthy kids here, there are plenty of down-to-earth people who either are not wealthy or don't flaunt it if they are. I never feel intimidated because of money, and I don't think twice about the brand of my clothing or the fact that I don't have a car. Overall, I think the fact that there are wealthy kids here is true, but the snobbiness is definitely not an issue.

An over-privileged snob. Tends to group into cliques but is also a bit lonely.Winter-sports addict. While a good number of the students who attend DU come from wealthy backgrounds, they are rarely ever snobs. Most DU students are open to new ideas and relationships, cliques can happen but are not common. I have found that it is difficult to make close friends at DU. Other students I have talked to have had the same problem. Whether it be the quarter-structure of the school or the student body that causes this I can’t say. I do know friends can be found, and a majority of one’s classmates are agreeable people.A good number of DU students go skiing and snowboarding during the winter months, so the ski bum stereotype is sometimes accurate.

The University of Denver has preps, jocks, geeks, nerds, hippies, stoners, international students , non-traditional students (moms, & older people), thespians, red necks, goths, wanna-be gangsters, but the prevalent stereotype seems to be rich spoiled kids. I do admit, out of all the colleges I've visited, heard about from friends, or transferred from DU seems to have the most Frat kids that I'm met, maybe only coming close to CU Boulder's frat population. But I think the rich kids and frat kids are only more visible as they usually live on campus or very near. The international students are probably the next most visible. They are usually based down the street, and many of the students at DU come from Japan, China, Germany, Netherlands, Jamaica, Nigeria, South Africa, Chile and from all over. There are a bunch of exceptionally bright students too. DU kids love to study abroad and the school is becoming a little more foreigner friendly by having a couple international studies buildings on campus and providing programs like the Conversation Partners.There are rich geeks as well as poor ones, probably due to the many ways you can access grants and scholarships. Mostly, what makes DU's campus so diverse is that a little more than half of the students seem to come from every other place but Colorado. Everyone seems to keep to themselves because they are all at DU to do some serious studying, which sometimes makes it hard to make friends if you live off campus. Overall, I think that having little diversity on our campus and rich spoiled kids are the biggest two untrue stereotypes about DU students.